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This week on “The Learning Curve,” co-host Gerard Robinson and guest co-host Mary Connaughton talk with Prof. Michael Slater, Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the world’s foremost expert on Charles Dickens and his works. They discuss some of the main elements of Dickens’ brilliant, prolific, and complicated life, as the 19th century’s most influential, best-selling writer of memorable works, from Oliver Twist to Great Expectations. Professor Slater describes Dickens’ early childhood, having been separated from his family, who were incarcerated in debtors’ prison, and how this heart-wrenching experience inspired his writing as an instrument of social reform. Prof. Slater concludes with a reading from A Christmas Carol, a tale of ghostly salvation which was enormously influential in shaping our popular conceptions of this holiday, and in drawing attention to the need for greater charity.
Stories of the Week: In Kentucky, the state Supreme Court struck down a law that established a tax credit, the Education Opportunity Account Act, that would have helped families cover private school tuition. They’re the backbone of modern classrooms, helping to record school attendance, discipline, assignments, administering exams for hundreds of millions of students – but how much do we know about Learning Management Systems (LMS)?
Guest:
Professor Michael Slater, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, is a Fellow of Birkbeck College, University of London, and Emeritus Professor in its Department of English and Humanities. He is the world’s foremost scholar of Charles Dickens and his works. Professor Slater is a past President of the International Dickens Fellowship and of the Dickens Society of America, and former editor of ‘The Dickensian’. His internationally-acclaimed books include the biography Charles Dickens, The Great Charles Dickens Scandal, and Dickens on America & The Americans. He has taught and lectured in the U.S., across Europe, Australasia, and the Far East. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from Oxford University.
The next episode will air on Weds., January 4th, with Prof. Roosevelt Montás, Director of the Freedom and Citizenship Program at Columbia University, and the author of the book, Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation.
Tweet of the Week:
.@MargueriteRoza: "Every district's data tells a different story. Some spend more on magnet schools. Some have legacy programs, really fancy jazz programs. Each district has to open the books, take a look, and see if they want to address some of these patterns." #SchoolFinance
— Brookings Governance (@BrookingsGov) December 16, 2022
News Links:
The Vital, Hidden Role That Learning Management Systems Play In The Education Market
Kentucky Supreme Court Strikes Down Tax Credits to Pay Private School Tuition
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It would have been interesting to ask the professor which adaptations of A Christmas Carol he had seen, and which he preferred or condemned (and why).
I’m guessing his favorite would be the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, which presents Scrooge as a fully rounded human being rather than a caricature, and which is usually considered the gold standard.